‘AEW: Rampage’ Review (Oct 15th 2021)
Welcome to this week’s AEW: Rampage review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and first off, I need to apologize for my humor as of late. I’ve been leaning on the more bizarre part of my sense of humor lately to compensate for how bad I’ve felt some of these shows have been. That was a bad habit for me to get into and is my fault, regardless of why I was getting mean and lazy with what and how I wrote the reviews. So, I’ve decided that I need to stop writing daily reviews. I’ll still review matches in The Last Week In Wrestling and maybe some columns, but I just don’t wanna review the rest of the stuff that I don’t care about. If you’ve heard me complain about promos in wrestling once, then you’ve heard it enough times to last you the rest of your life. This will be my last Rampage review. From this point forward, any thoughts on AEW will be written in The Last Week In Wrestling. I may have grown to not like the reviews any more, but I do appreciate those of you who have read these reviews. Thank you. Well, let’s get to Rampage!
Match #1: Tay Conti (with Anna Jay) def. Santana Garrett
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Santana used two deep arm drags to take Tay down, but Tay blocked a third attempt. Conti rolled around with a waist lock and then an ankle lock, “almost a variation of a calf slicer,” said Excalibur. Tay kicked Santana in the face for a near fall. Santana rocked Tay with a forearm and followed up with a back elbow in the corner. Santana kicked Tay in the sternum but then ate a pump kick from Tay! Tay nailed Santana with four running pump kicks! She pinned Santana after the DD-Tay!
The Verdict: 7 out of 10
Match #2: Bobby Fish def. Lee Moriarty
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Lee tripped up Bobby Fish and went to work over Fish’s elbow. He hit Fish with a crossbody for a near fall. Bobby Fish used a sliding lariat for a one-count on Lee. There were dueling chants in the arena. Bobby knocked the wind out of Lee with a senton! Fish hit a snap suplex for another near fall. Fish applied a key lock on Lee. They traded strikes and then Lee went back to attacking Fish’s elbow. Lee busted out a jumping stomp from his arsenal onto Bobby Fish! Lee connected with body shots but then Fish fired back with a big-time roundhouse and a back drop suplex for a two-count on Lee. Bobby Fish wrecked Lee with an exploder suplex onto the ropes. Fish finished off Lee with the knock out shot roundhouse kick and pinned Lee!
The Verdict: 7 out of 10
Match #3: Bryan Danielson def. Minoru Suzuki
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
There was a stare down between the two pro wrestlers before the match began. They tied up and Suzuki brought Danielson to his knees. Dragon popped up and began working on the joints of Suzuki. Danielson went for a rolling kneebar and Suzuki immediately went for the ropes, showing great ring awareness. Danielson kicked to the outside of Suzuki’s thigh. Suzuki smiled and invited Danielson to do it again. Suzuki got to his feet and he and Danielson traded chops and kicks and forearms! Danielson used the hammer and anvil strikes to Suzuki. The action spilled outside the ring and Suzuki clobbered Danielson with a straight punch to the head. Suzuki encouraged Danielson to kick him, so Danielson obliged! Bryan applied the cattle mutilation but Suzuki rolled with it. Danielson transitioned into a pinning position, but Suzuki escaped. Bryan went back on the offense with kicks to Suzuki in the corner! Suzuki whipped Bryan out of the corner and then waffled him with a kick! Suzuki almost locked in an armbar but Danielson got the rope break with his foot before Suzuki could fully sit out with it. Suzuki turned his attention to the referee and walked right back into a LeBell Lock from Bryan! Suzuki rolled into the ropes for the ring break! There was an epic exchange of forearms! Suzuki transitioned to the sleeper but Bryan rolled out. Suzuki attempted a Gotch-style suplex but Bryan escaped and caught Suzuki with a busaiku knee strike, and Bryan pinned Suzuki!
The Verdict: 10 out of 10
Match #4: CM Punk def. Matt Sydal
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Punk used a side headlock takeover. Sydal grabbed Punk’s arm with an inside wrist lock, following up with an arm drag. Sydal used a crucifix pin for a near fall on Punk. Sydal had a bow and arrow stretch on Punk but Punk popped out and body slammed Sydal. Punk tried for another body slam but Sydal countered with an arm drag! Sydal turned Punk inside out with a flying mare. Sydal had Punk in a neck crank while tearing at Punk’s knee. Sydal was looking for the lightning spiral but Punk countered with a dropkick. Sydal charged in with a sliding knee strike on Punk! Punk body slammed Sydal on the ring apron! Punk came over the top with a rolling senton. Punk hooked Sydal in the corner in the Tree of Woe. Punk ran into the corner but Sydal sat up, dodging Punk! Both men climbed to the second turnbuckles and knocked each other down to the arena floor. Sydal clocked Punk with a jumping knee! Sydal was looking for the lightning spiral again but Punk countered with a neck breaker. Punk used a rising knee strike and then a short arm lariat on Sydal! Sydal ducked a Pepsi Twist from Punk and hit the lightning spiral! Punk barely kicked out in time! Sydal was searching for a shooting star press but Punk sensed it. Punk caught Sydal with the GTS and pinned him! Punk and Sydal hugged after the match, a sign of mutual respect.
The Verdict: 9 out of 10
Match #5: Ruby Soho def. The Bunny
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Ruby backed The Bunny up, but The Bunny shoved back. Ruby kicked The Bunny in the midsection and followed up with two deep arm drags. Ruby blasted The Bunny with a knee! The Bunny charged back, knocking Ruby for a loop with a knee. Ruby tripped up The Bunny. Ruby climbed to the top rope but The Bunny pulled her down, with Ruby hitting her head on the way down! The Bunny followed up with a sliding lariat. Ruby fired back with running kicks to The Bunny’s head. She followed up with a backdrop suplex. The Bunny rallied back with a German Suplex to Soho off the ropes! The Bunny tried to pin Ruby but Ruby kicked out. Ruby caught The Bunny with a backslide and pinned her! Penelope Ford ran out and attacked Ruby Soho from behind! The Bunny held Ruby up and Penelope Ford dropped Ruby after punching her with the brass knuckles!
The Verdict: 6 out of 10
Match #6: (Main Event) – The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, & Sammy Guevara) def. The Men Of The Year ( Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky) and Junior Dos Santos (with American Top Team’s Dan Lambert and Jorge Masvidal)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Austin Vanderford, Paige VanZant, and Dalton Rosta were watching from the front row. Sky rammed Sammy with elbow strikes! Sammy connected with a back elbow! Sammy backflipped over Sky and hit Sky with a nice dropkick. Jericho tagged in and then Junior Dos Santos tagged in. JDS bludgeoned Jericho with body shots. JDS dropped hammer fists on Jericho! Hager tagged in but Dos Santos drove him back. Hager picked up JDS and used hammer fists of his own! JDS had Hager seeing stars after a knee to the face! On the outside, Jericho got in the face of Jorge Masvidal. While Jericho was distracted, Ethan Page attacked Jericho from behind! Back in the ring, JDS powerslammed Jericho. Sammy tagged in with a springboard cutter and then a Spanish Fly to Sky for a near fall! Jericho took down Sky with a double sledge and then a lionsault for a near fall! JDS dropped Jake Hager with a knee strike! Hager picked up JDS and drove him through the timekeeper’s table! Sky and Jericho traded forearms in the center of the ring. Sky attempted the TKO but Jericho countered with the Walls of Jericho. Paige VanZant distracted ref Aubrey Edwards while Jorge Masvidal hit the running knee on Jericho! Ethan Page wasted no time and pinned the stunned Jericho! American Top Team jumped in the ring and began a beatdown on Jericho! Santana and Ortiz sprinted to the ring, coming to the aid of Jericho and the Inner Circle!
The Verdict: 6 out of 10
Final Verdict: 8/10
Okay. The Buy-In was the best part of this. Now, each show, Buy-In or Rampage, had a match worth seeing. The second half of the show had CM Punk and Matt Sydal renewing their Ring Of Honor glory days together in a hard-hitting fight. It was slow and gradual, but that just meant you had more time to enjoy the actual wrestling. This was reserved wrestling action that was not obsessed with just hitting you over the head with the next attempt to entertain at any cost. This was a wrestling match that felt like a competition. As for the best match of the night, what can be said about Bryan/Minoru that can be said about some of the best matches? This was seventeen years in the making and it was worth waiting all that time for. All of the brutal fighting you likely expected was there and then some. Above all else, it was a wrestling match through and through. Bryan coming to AEW has already paid off in ways that are too great to not grin about. Minoru looked the best he has in ages. This was one of the best matches of the year. It’s definitely the best pre-show match in wrestling history. As for the other matches on this show, they offered various degrees of action that ranged from good to excellent, but never fell before a certain level of quality. There was no nonsense on this show. I’m glad that a wrestling show was just wrestling. I wish somebody would have talked about wanting to be World Champion, but at least we got the matches right. This will be my last Rampage for a good while. I will still cover AEW matches in The Last Week In Wrestling. I’ll see you there and I’ll see later. Thanks again for reading.
